Skip to main content

This exhibition is no longer on view. See what’s on at SAM.

Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence from the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Oct 19 2023–Jan 21 2024

Seattle Art Museum

Thanks to the popularity of the instantly recognizable Great Wave—cited everywhere from book covers and Lego sets to anime and emoji— Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) has become one of the most famous and influential artists in the world. This major exhibition organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), takes a new approach to the work of the versatile master, pairing more than 100 of his woodblock prints, paintings, and illustrated books from the MFA’s renowned collection with more than 200 works by his teachers, students, rivals, and admirers. Join us to explore Hokusai’s impact through the centuries and around the globe, on artists including Yoshitomo Nara, Chiho Aoshima, and Helen Frankenthaler.

Exhibition organized by
MFA Boston

Presenting Sponsors
Delta Airlines
Microsoft Logo
The Virginia Wright Future Fund LOGO

Major Sponsors
The Boeing Company
E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation

Hotel Sponsor
Four Seasons Hotel Seattle

Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa-oki nami-ura), also known as the Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjĆ«rokkei), about 1830–31 (Tenpƍ 1–2), Katsushika Hokusai, Japanese, 1760–1849, woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, William Sturgis Bigelow Collection, Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Related events

Nothing to see here, check back soon!

See what’s on at SAM


What’s on at Seattle Art Museum

Following Space: Thaddeus Mosley & Alexander Calder

Nov 20 2024–Jun 1 2025

Seattle Art Museum

Joyce J. Scott: Walk a Mile in My Dreams

Oct 17 2024–Jan 19 2025

Seattle Art Museum

Selections from the Shirley Family Calder Collection

Nov 20 2024–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Bethany Collins: At Sea

Nov 14 2024–May 4 2025

Seattle Art Museum

Jacob Lawrence: American Storyteller

Jun 28 2024–Jan 5 2025

Seattle Art Museum

Art and Commerce

Jul 27 2024–Jan 12 2025

Seattle Art Museum

Diego Cibelli: Fiori dei Miei Habiti / La Montagne Enchantée

May 31 2024–May 10 2026

Seattle Art Museum

Lessons from the Institute of Empathy

Mar 31 2018–Oct 5 2025

Seattle Art Museum

American Art: The Stories We Carry

Oct 20 2022–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Yirrkala: Art from Australia’s Top End

May 10 2024–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Impressionisms: The Global Nineteenth Century

Mar 27 2024–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Chronicles of a Global East

Oct 20 2022–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

SAM on Paper: Rembrandt’s Etchings

Mar 27 2024–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Pacific Species

Dec 22 2022–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Conscious Constructions

Apr 29 2011–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Art and Life Along the Northwest Coast

Nov 26 2014–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Deities & Demons: Supernatural In Japanese Art

Oct 20 2022–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Cosmic Beings in Mesoamerican and Andean Art

Nov 10 2018–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Porcelain Room

May 5 2007–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

John Grade: Middle Fork

Feb 10 2017–Feb 2 2025

Seattle Art Museum

Only Connect: The Art of Devotion

Apr 29 2011–ongoing

Seattle Art Museum

Ai, Rebel: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiwei

Mar 12–Sep 7 2025

Seattle Art Museum

Tariqa Waters: Venus is Missing

May 7 2025–Jan 5 2026

Seattle Art Museum

Farm to Table: Art, Food, and Identity in the Age of Impressionism

Oct 23 2025–Jan 18 2026

Seattle Art Museum

Samantha Yun Wall: 2024 Betty Bowen Award Winner

Opening Spring 2026

Seattle Art Museum